Johnny Weir, two-time Olympiad and three time U.S. figure skating champion, spoke out sharply on NBC yesterday as a television commentator against the “pass” given to 15-year-old Russian Olympic champion, Kamila Valieva at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Weir is a former exclusive columnist for the News-Press.
“With all of this news I just, I feel so uncomfortable as a skater and as a skating fan even having to commentate on her performance simply because she should not be able to compete in this competition,” he said yesterday, adding, “If you can’t play fair, then you can’t play, is my opinion on this. It’s heartbreaking for many in the skating world because she is a tremendous talent. But if you don’t play by the rules, then you should not be in this competition.”